


Far From What They Know

by EmeraldOnix7



Category: Disney - All Media Types, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Character sort of death, Fluff and Angst, Gen, I'm Sorry, I'm scared of tagging characters but I'll do it as I go along, No characters that are in a Kingdom Hearts game, Nobodies (Kingdom Hearts) - Freeform, This is just my dumb oc story ive been making in my spare time, new worlds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-22 20:08:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19990519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeraldOnix7/pseuds/EmeraldOnix7
Summary: Ned, Ruth, and Medwyn were just normal kids before their world got swallowed by darkness. Now they've been scattered from their home and put on a path far beyond their capabilities. Saving the world? All Ruth wants is to be back home, but she'll have to work quickly or risk losing someone she holds dear to her.Threats loom around every corner but with hard work and teamwork, these three kids will be able to face all of them.





	Far From What They Know

**Author's Note:**

> Ack uploading this scares me but I'm doing it anyway. I don't expect this to get like any hits, but even if you read just a paragraph, I'm super appreciative of it! 
> 
> So this story is just something I've been writing in my spare time with ocs that I have. It focuses on three characters and their exploits with some Disney and Final Fantasy characters poking their heads in occasionally. Without further ado, I'll get to the actual story. I hope you enjoy!

"Hey, have you ever wondered what was past the stars?" The shimmering lights filled the sky once again, shining with the moon on the isolated hill in the forest. The hill wasn't lonely, however. Two figures, a boy and a girl, sat and stared at the night sky.  
  


The boy was a brown-haired, fair-skinned boy of sixteen years of age. His brown eyes gazed up at the stars, while the lights illuminated his slightly larger than average nose. He wore his hair rather long, having his hair fall around his neck and his bangs covering most of his forehead. He wore a green shirt and tan pants with sneakers that had two large stars printed on the sides. 

  
The girl was fourteen years of age and also had brown hair and fair skin, but freckles dusted her face. Her brown eyes focused on the boy, rather than at the night sky. She wore a blue shirt made from light material. With that, she wore a sparkly blue skirt and a pair of black sneakers.

  
"You always ask that, Ned." The girl said with a laugh. She smirked and poked at the boy's face. "Mom always said that your heads were always in the clouds, but I think she was a little far off."

  
Ned huffed. The boy playfully crossed his arms with a fit of exaggerated anger. "It was a simple question, Ruth. Can't you just humor me?"

  
Ruth sighed. "I don't know. Maybe there are even more stars. Ones you've never even seen before." She nudged him in the arm with her elbow. "Like I've said many times before."

  
Ned jolted from being nudged and rubbed his arm. "Well, I just like to ask, ok?" He chuckled. "It's always nice to sit out here. It's a bit of a trek, but I do love the scenery. It's like the stars go on, forever and ever." He reached out to the sky as if to try to grab a star. "And someday, I'm going to see what's beyond those stars. Mark my words, Ruth."

  
"That's all well and good," a new voice announced suddenly. Ned and Ruth jumped and focused on the source of the voice. It was a neighborhood kid with hair the color of the sun and that fell around his upper back. He had pale skin and seemed to be around the age of fifteen. Judging by the disheveled appearance, he had been getting ready to go to bed. "But it's time to head back," he said, stifling a yawn.

  
Ned smiled. "Alright, Med. We're coming. Let's go, Ruth." He stood up and held his hand out to her. 

  
Ruth took Ned's hand and stood up. Her face was beaming. "Hey, you guys know my birthday is in a few days, right?" 

  
The two boys nodded. "Yeah? But you're gonna be busy on your birthday." Ned said with a frown. He sighed. "The adults wanna take her shopping," he whispered to the other boy. 

  
Medwyn silently said, "oh." And turned back toward Ruth. "Anyway, you're clearly planning something, right? What are you thinking about?"

  
Ruth smirked. "Well, I figured that we could go see the city. Look around at the sights. And then we could all eat pizza! What do you guys think?" She asked, her voice filled with glee.

  
  
Ned and Medwyn grinned. "That sounds like a blast!" Ned shouted.

  
Medwyn crossed his arms. "I'll admit that it seems pretty fun. But how will we convince our parents to take us?"

  
Ruth pondered a moment before Ned spoke up. "We don't have to tell them. Let's just go by ourselves." He said with a smirk. 

  
"But we'll get in trouble," Medwyn muttered with a frown. His demeanor changed quickly as the thought of disobeying his parents raced through his head.  
  


"We can sneak out!" Ned insisted. His eyes practically sparkled. "If we're quiet enough, nobody'll know we left! And I'll take the blame if anything goes wrong."

  
Medwyn uneasily stared at Ned. His eyes glanced between the forest and Ned's expectant eyes. "You promise? What happens if something happens in the city?"

  
Ruth chuckled. "Well if anything bad happens in the city, we can always go to the police station. And that'll be our meeting place if we get separated." She said aloud. "Are you in Med?"

  
Medwyn let out a nervous laugh. "I'll try," he said with an anxious smile. 

  
Ruth spun on the tip of her foot and pumped her arms in the air, "All right! Tomorrow around noon we all meet here! Then we sneak out of town from this hill. Remember to bring your allowances!" After announcing the plan, Ruth took off like a flash of lightning. "Last one home has to put pineapple on their pizza!" She shouted as she left.

  
Startled, Ned and Medwyn looked at each other. "Hey wait!" Ned chased after her, his arm outstretched toward her. 

  
Medwyn soon followed behind with a fearful look in his eyes. "But why do we have to do that?" He asked as he ran. 

  
Finally, the hill was alone once again, though it didn’t last long. From the darkness of the treeline, a black shadow bug appeared. It's piercing yellow eyes scanned the surroundings as if it were hunting. It twitched and moved toward the middle of the hill. Its glowing eyes stared toward the direction of the small town that the children called home. Once determining that there was nothing of note around, the monster dissolved into the ground and went back into the forest, toward the town the group yearned to visit.

* * *

Medwyn frowned and pulled a large cloth bag toward the group. "So I didn't know how long we were gonna be gone for, so I packed a bunch of things in here." He dragged the bag up onto a stump and began to dig through it. He gave each person a small baggie full of raisins, chocolate chips, cashews, and pretzel bites. "This is in case we get hungry before dinner," Medwyn said with a smile.

  
Ruth giggled. "Oh wow! Thank you!" She stuffed her trail mix in a tiny pink purse with white trim.

  
Ned pocketed his share rather poorly. The ends of the bag stuck out an inch, though it was clear from Ned sticking his hand into the bag, the action was intentional. He tossed some cashews into his mouth and took a handful of coins from his other pocket. "I got all my chore munny, so we should hopefully have enough to each get a slice."

  
Ruth and Medwyn cheered. The three of then exchanged high-fives and began to trek toward the expansive city in the distance. The sound of children's laughter echoed through the trees. Other than that, there were no other sounds to hear. 

  
No birds sang their forest songs. No crickets lent the forest their melodies, nor did any cicadas scream at the top of their lungs. It was quiet.

  
The three children didn't notice, however. They spent their time talking about topics like school drama and food. Before they knew it, however, they suddenly found themselves at the forest's edge. A large sprawling city with massive rectangular buildings sat just in front of them. This concrete jungle beckoned to the children, just waiting for it to be explored.

  
With a cheerful march, the three walked inside the city. Ned grabbed Ruth's hand, and Ruth grabbed Medwyn's. "We need to stick together," Ruth insisted. "No wandering off." She sent a sharp glare towards Ned. 

  
He smiled sheepishly before popping a raisin into his mouth. "Hey. So where do we wanna go first?" 

  
"Let's see." Ruth glanced around the city. Her gaze focused onto a storefront with several bags sitting on display. Most of the bags were black purses or red handbags, but Ruth could see a distinct bird-shaped backpack sitting just beyond the other bags. "Let's go over there!" She shouted as she dragged Ned and Medwyn.

  
Ned sputtered as he was dragged along to the storefront. His eyes widened. "Ruth w-where are we going?" Unlike Ned, Medwyn was silently dragged along. He made no move to resist, nor did he say anything. The only thing to show his surprise was a shocked expression and widened eyes.

  
Ruth stopped in front of the store and planted her face on the window. "I saw a cute bag," she explained. She pointed past the handbags and purses.

  
Ned and Medwyn sighed. "Well, let's go see it. Maybe we have enough money for it," Medwyn said with a half-smile.

  
Ruth turned back toward the boys, her expression so bright that it could melt an iceberg. She grabbed Ned and Medwyn's hands once again and dragged them into the store. The bright light illuminated the trio and the smell of leather wafted through the store. 

  
The three immediately moved past the frilly pink bags and leopard-print purses, making their way to the children bags based on cutesy animals and mythical creatures. Ruth" oohed" and "awed" at the dolphin purse, the unicorn bookings, and the cat purse. But her eyes stopped on a red bag with a black beak and dot eyes sewn onto the side.

  
Medwyn looked at Ruth's intense gaze. It was as if the bag were going to move if she stopped looking at it. Medwyn grabbed the bag and flipped the felt bag over. The cardboard tag listed some sort of popular name-brand and the price. 

  
The price made the three children balk. Stuck on the tag was a yellow sticker with black text with, "7000 Munny" printed on it. Defeated, Medwyn slowly hung the bag back up, resting his free hand on Ruth's shoulder.

  
"We'll get it someday. So don't worry." Ned said with a smile. He climbed onto a white display and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Mark my words, you overpriced store!" He began with a shout. If the employees didn't notice him before, they did now and were making their way toward him. "We will get that bag! Mark my words! Mark them!” He screamed as he was being pulled off the display.

  
"Get off of there, sweetheart." The employee said with a pleasant tone. Though it was a clearly strained smile. She lifted him up and set him down on the ground. "Honey, where are your parents? Are they here?"

  
Ned sweated. He grabbed Medwyn and Ruth's arms and darted out of the store. "You'll never catch me!" He shouted with a smirk, prompting giggles from the other two.

  
The three ran and ran until they made their way to a shining building with neon purple lights on the walls. "Stardust Arcade" 

  
All three's faces brightened. "Ooh! Let's go!" Ned shouted. The three of them entered into the dark, cold arcade. Although the exterior of the business seemed like it had been updated, nobody else was inside the arcade. Although the place was nearly empty, the smell of marinara sauce and cheese filled the air.

  
Ned spun on his heels to face the other two as soon as they entered. "Well, guys! We should all play something! I should have enough Munny for us to play a few games of something and then also get pizza!” he cheered. Without skipping a beat, Ned handed out a few coins to each person. “Enough for maybe three games or something? Now if you guys need me, I’ll be over by the dance machine,” he said with a smirk. He left with a jolly march to a secluded corner of the arcade. An area where the dim lights barely reached.

  
Satisfied with the Munny they’d received, the two made their ways to the other side of the arcade. Ruth gravitated toward a racing game while Medwyn moved toward the skeeball machines. 

  
Medwyn, in the grand scheme of things, wasn’t bad at skeeball. He thought so anyway. He slid the oddly heavy plastic balls onto the ramp and into the numbered targets. He got quite a few fifty and thirty point shots, though every time he tried to go for the coveted one-hundred point shots, he missed. After one game, he amassed a few tickets, prompting Ruth to wander over. 

  
She placed a coin in her skeeball machine and rolled the ball up the ramp, only for it to roll into the ten-point hole. She tried again, but with a little more force. The ball flew higher, but still only made it into the thirty point hole. With a frustrated huff, Ruth launched the ball from the ramp and caused the ball to fly directly into the zero point hole. Her frustrated groans echoed through the nearly-empty arcade

  
Medwyn chortled. He set a hand on one of the orange balls in Ruth’s machine. “Ok, let me show you how to do this.”

  
Ruth frowned. “No! I can do this! It really can’t be this hard,” she protested. 

  
Another laugh. Medwyn shook his head. “Oh yeah. I saw with how hard you flung that ball. Really, it can’t be too hard, right?” He asked with a smirk. “Look, I’ll only show you how I do this. Then you can try and pick it up from there,” he offered.

  
Ruth crossed her arms, though a grin spread onto her face. “Alright, show me, oh skeeball master,” she said with a dramatic flourish. 

  
Medwyn chuckled. “Well I wouldn’t call myself a master,” he muttered. He approached the machine. He reeled his arm back and carefully aimed the ball down the middle of the ramp. He launched the ball into the fifty point circle with a satisfied smile. “It’s all about proper aiming.” He grabbed another orange ball and set it gently into Ruth’s hand. “Now you try.”

  
Ruth smirked and reeled her hand back. She practically stared a hole into the machine with how intense her gaze was. She rolled the ball onto the ramp where it went into the thirty point circle. She pumped her fist in the air and smiled at Medwyn. He smiled back as soon as he launched the last ball he had. “I got thirty points,” she said with glee.  
  
  
Medwyn gave her a thumbs up and entered his last coin into the machine. “Wanna see who gets the most points this round?” He asked with a smile. “After you’re done with this round, that is.”   
  
  
Ruth frowned. “You’re gonna beat me though.” She launched another ball. It ran along the ramp until it went into the ten-point ring. She gestured toward the machine with a frown. “HMM.”

  
Medwyn chuckled. “Maybe you’re right.” He tossed a ball into the air and caught it. “If you wanna go against the so-called ‘Master of Skeeball’, you’ll have to get better.” He turned toward the machine and launched the ball as hard as he could. It moved down the ramp, hit the top of the net, then fell into the forty-point ring. Medwyn crossed his arms and grinned. 

  
Ruth scoffed at him. “Master of Skeeball, huh? So you admit it?” She pursed her lips and placed a hand on her face. “I wonder. What would it take to dethrone you?” She launched another ball. It landed in the ten-point hole.

  
“You said master, not king,” Medwyn protested. “I’m not a king! You don’t need to dethrone anyone!” 

  
Ruth laughed. It relaxed Medwyn enough for him to start laughing too. “Tell you what. Let’s have a competition. I’ll let you tally up the points from the rest of your turn now, as well as another play. Meanwhile, I’ll just be counting this turn for me.” Medwyn smiled. “This way maybe you’ll be able to win. How about it?”

  
Ruth grinned. “I accept!”

  
The two silently turned toward their machines. The air thickened around the two from the tension of combat. Medwyn seemed to have more of a consistent score while Ruth’s shots were more varied. At the end of the competition, Ruth and Medwyn were closer in score than expected, but Medwyn still won. 

  
“I knew you’d win,” Ruth said with a frustrated sigh. Her frown soon shifted to a smile. “It was pretty fun though.”

  
“I’m glad.” Medwyn grabbed his tickets.”Let's take our tickets to the stand and see if we can get something.”

  
Ruth yanked her tickets from her machine and headed toward the ticket exchange counter with Medwyn. From the dark side of the arcade, Ned could be seen also walking to the exchange counter. He had a significant number of tickets in his arms.”Yo!” He shoved his tickets into one hand and waved to the other two. “I see you guys also got some tickets.”

  
Ruth nodded. “Yeah! We played some skeeball.”

  
Ned chuckled. “Wow! I’m terrible at that game!” He walked toward the counter and placed the tickets onto it. Medwyn and Ruth followed suit. 

  
The exchange counter was a glass display with cheap plastic toys and candy stuffed in it. Though the wall behind the display had far more sought after prizes like giant stuffed bears and rubber balls with character faces on them. The bored teen behind the counter glanced over the total of all the tickets and gestured toward the display. “You can get a few things here, or you can get one of the bigger prizes in this display.” He gestured toward another glass display next to the stand they were at. 

  
The three looked at each other for a moment before Ruth pointed towards a section of the display. Sitting past the thirty ticket sign were a few cloth ribbons. It was only in one color and style, however, and it was blue with white polka dots. Ruth grinned. “Let's all get one of these,” she insisted. “Then we can all have something to remember this day!”

  
Medwyn silently agreed and shoved his tickets toward the teen.

  
Ned nodded. “That sounds cool. Give me two of them though.” He grinned and ran his hand through his hair. “I’d like something to tie this up.”

  
The teenager blinked at the tickets and took them to a room in the back. He came back with four ribbons in hand. “You have seven tickets left if you want to-.” The teen said, handing over the ribbons. His eyes suddenly moved toward the door. A curious look appeared on his face. His eyebrows raised and his mouth opened slightly. “You guys see that, right?”

  
The three turned around. Beyond the glass door of the arcade, there was a tiny black shadow with yellow eyes, two antennae, two arms, two legs, and sharp claws. It looked around for a bit, twitched, then sank into the ground. “What?” Ruth asked under her breath. “Is that thing?”

  
The teenager climbed over the counter. “I don’t know. But I’ve never heard of an animal that could do that.” He muttered, moving his arm toward the children. He made them back up toward the emergency exit along with him. “Now I don’t know what those things are, but it went into the ground, so I want you three to run home. Got it?”

  
Ned, Ruth, and Medwyn nodded, a terrible feeling of dread filling their chests.

  
With a silent countdown from three, the teen slammed open the door, causing a fire alarm to go off inside the arcade. He shoved the three out the door and started sprinting down the road. “Good luck!” He yelled.

  
Once again, the children ran, but it wasn’t playful or for fun. One of the shadow creatures had popped up behind them, its presence known by a cold chill that swept down their backs and the subtle smell of sulfur mixed with expired produce. Fear pounded through Medwyn, Ruth, and Ned’s bodies. 

  
Each turn they made, each road they traveled down, each building they passed, the three saw the same things. More of those shadow creatures. Some were taller, some looked like tree-stumps, some even had a strange upside-down heart pattern on their heads. No matter the shape and size however, it was clear that these creatures were dangerous. They made their way toward unsuspecting people and attack. Just from running from the busy city, the three had seen the cycle repeat, on and on.

  
They attacked. The person vanished in a purple haze. As a pink heart started to fly upward, a shadow monster appeared suddenly from the haze and snatched up the heart. Then the cycle would repeat again. And again. And again.

  
Luckily, the three of them were able to get a head start on fleeing before the true madness began. They were near the edge of the city when a larger shadow creature emerged from the ground. 

  
It was large, had a heart-shaped hole in the center of its body. Its face was covered in hair-like strips that merged into the figure. 

  
The three stopped in their tracks. Ned grabbed Ruth and Medwyn’s arms and started running to the right. They all thought the same thing. If they could only get to the woods, they would be safe. 

  
The monster had other thoughts, however. It slammed the ground with its fists. Purple holes swirled around on the ground, much like a typical portal would. Out of these dark pools came more shadows. After seeing Medwyn, Ruth, and Ned, the creatures began to charge toward them.

  
The three of them swerved and ran past several of the shadows with little luck in shaking them away. And it seemed like every time they would run past one, another two would take its place. All in all, it seemed like a wasted effort, but they couldn’t give up. Finally, they found an empty path to the forest and rushed forward. 

  
Their chests were burning. Their legs ached. The adrenalin seemed to have been wearing off as soon as the monsters were out of sight. Once they saw their hill, the three of them collapsed, coughing and gasping for air. 

  
The trio stood up once air filled their lungs again. No one spoke. Their eyes were focused on the sky. This hill was the place the three typically looked to the stars, yet it was around three and the biggest star was no longer there. Deep blues, purples, and the color black swirled together. Earth rose from the ground into the center of the swirl. 

  
It was like the world was ending. And they could only stare as their home began to get wiped out. A large brick building was sucked into the swirl. Medwyn screamed as it rose from the village nearby and vanished. Yet once it came to Ned and Ruth’s childhood house, they could only stare in silent horror. 

  
As more and more bits of the world began to be sucked away, a cold chill ran down their spines once again. The trio looked behind them. It was a shadow beast. One of the smaller ones, but with no way to defend themselves, the trio were helpless. Medwyn and Ruth backed away from the shadow. Yet to their surprise, Ned didn’t join them.

  
He frowned and grabbed a large tree branch. “Hey ugly!” He shouted, pointing the branch at the beast. “You’re not gonna get them! If you want them, you’ll have to fight me!”

  
“Ned, don’t do this,” Ruth pleaded with a shaky voice. Tears pooled in her eyes. 

  
“Yeah,” Medwyn said. His voice was low. “Come back here.”

  
Ned shook his head. He looked to the side and smiled. “I’m sorry. But I’m the oldest one. And I gotta help you guys.” His smile faded. “Something went really wrong. And I gotta at least buy you two time.” Ned faced the monster once again. 

  
The monster twitched, then lunged forward. It raked its claws forward but barely managed to be blocked by Ned’s stick. Ruth and Medwyn backed up again. Shouts of “please Ned” and “stop” came from the both of them as Ned swung the branch. Despite the tree branch connecting with the monster head-on, it did nothing. The monster wasn’t moved, wasn’t phased. It was as if the branch stopped at the monster’s face.

  
Ned laughed shakily. “Looks like this is the end of the road.” He laughed again. “T-Tell everyone that I’m s-sorry.” He said, a mix of laughter and sobbing coming through from his voice as he desperately tried to hit the shadow.

  
“Ned!” Ruth shouted. “Please, let's go!” She sobbed. She nearly made a movement to go grab him, but Medwyn held her arm, tears pouring from his eyes like a broken faucet. “Let me go! Please! Ned! Ned!” She shouted and struggled against Medwyn’s grip, but it didn’t work.

  
Eventually, the stick no longer blocked the attack. The shadow struck Ned with its claws, causing the same pattern they had seen in the city. His body vanished in the same purple haze that the others had. A pink heart floated up but was soon grabbed by a shadow that had appeared. 

  
This one had dark green fur, a beak for a mouth, and an upside-down heart symbol on the chest. Its piercing yellow eyes were the last things the now-duo saw as the world around them vanished and darkness filled their vision.


End file.
